More than 850 people were caught not wearing a seatbelt by police in Wales as part of a two-week campaign which ran during March.
The All Wales campaign, led by Dyfed-Powys Police, looked to crack down on motorists and passengers committing the offence, warning drivers they are risking their lives by not wearing belts.
Drivers were also reminded of their responsibility to ensure passengers under the age of 14 years are wearing a seatbelt, or using the correct child restraint for their height and age.
The enforcement campaign was supported by Road Safety Wales, who has appealed to those not wearing a seatbelt to ‘reconsider their attitude and behaviour’.
Susan Storch, chair of Road Safety Wales, said: “With children and young people learning directly from adults, Road Safety Wales would appeal to those drivers and passengers across Wales, who continue to flout the seatbelt law, to reconsider their attitude and behaviour.
“Protecting yourself and sending the right message to others is a very simple undertaking which could save lives. Whatever the journey, do the right thing and buckle up.”
Across the two weeks, 854 offenders were caught by police across Wales. Dyfed-Powys led the way with 400 offenders, followed by South Wales (275), Gwent (170) and North Wales (9).
Assistant chief constable Liane James, Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “Wearing a seatbelt is such a simple, easy thing to do. As police officers, we see the consequences of driving without a seatbelt all too often at crash scenes.
“While you will face a fine if you are caught without your seatbelt on, the key message we are trying to get across is that wearing a seatbelt really could mean the difference between life and death – and that applies just as much to passengers as it does to drivers and it also endangers other people within the car.”
I would imagine that the best times to find offenders are morning and afternoon going to and from school when drivers are in a hurry to take children to school and then return them home later. It didn’t categorise the offenders but I would suspect that quite a lot of professional drivers failed to wear their belt.
g craven
0
Quite a difference between N Wales figures and the other areas, but no possible explanation given. Was it an extraordinary and well-above level of compliance for the same number of vehicles monitored, or just simply less monitoring and detection in North Wales, for whatever reason? Nine individuals not wearing seatbelts anywhere could be detected in just an hour. Percentage compliance amongst drivers and passengers would be a better indicator I suppose.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
0